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The ''Croisière de Bruix'' (or Bruix' expedition of 1799) was the principal naval campaign of the year 1799 during the French Revolutionary Wars. The expedition began in April 1799 when the bulk of the French Atlantic Fleet under Vice-Admiral Étienne Eustache Bruix departed the base at Brest, evading the British Channel Fleet which was blockading the port and tricking the commander Admiral Lord Bridport into believing their true destination was Ireland. Passing southwards, the French fleet narrowly missed joining with an allied Spanish Navy squadron at Ferrol and was prevented by an easterly gale from uniting with the main Spanish fleet at Cádiz before entering the Mediterranean Sea. The Mediterranean was under British control following the destruction of the French Mediterranean Fleet at the Battle of the Nile in August 1798, and a British fleet nominally under Admiral Earl St Vincent was stationed there. Due however to St. Vincent's ill-health, operational control rested with Vice-Admiral Lord Keith. As Keith sought to chase down the French, the Spanish fleet followed Bruix into the Mediterranean before being badly damaged in a gale and sheltering in Cartagena. Bruix successfully evaded Keith's pursuit, briefly putting in at Toulon and then operating off the Italian coast in June. Keith belatedly followed Bruix' trail, his progress obstructed by distant orders from St Vincent and disobedience from Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson who commanded a separate squadron at Palermo and refused to participate in the campaign due to his preoccupation with the political situation in Naples. By the time Keith reached Toulon the French admiral had sailed westwards once more, joining with the Spanish force at Cartagena to form a fleet of 40 ships of the line. In early July, unaware that Bruix had returned through the Straits of Gibraltar to the Atlantic, Keith was joined by a heavy reinforcement sent by Bridport and reprovisioned his force at Port Mahon and Gibraltar before renewing the chase. During late July and early August Keith pursued Bruix into the Atlantic and rapidly closed the gap between the fleets as they crossed the Bay of Biscay. Ultimately however Bruix reached Brest on 13 August, just one day ahead of Keith, unopposed by the remainder of Bridport's fleet which was stationed off Rochefort blockading a Spanish squadron from Ferrol anchored there. Although Bruix achieved the union of the French and Spanish fleets, his operation made little difference to the ongoing strategic situation, the combined allied fleet remaining inactive at Brest for the next two years. During his time in the Mediterranean Bruix failed to exert any significant influence on the region: in June he escorted a supply convoy to the Northwestern Italian coast, but the smaller British and Russian forces operating off Malta, Corfu and Alexandria were left unmolested, and those blockades continued with minimal disruption. In the aftermath Keith was criticised for his failure to bring the French and Spanish fleets to action, although interference and disobedience among his fellow commanders also contributed heavily to Bruix' escape. ==Background== At the start of 1799 the Royal Navy exercised dominance in European waters during the French Revolutionary Wars. In Northern Europe the Channel Fleet enforced a blockade against the French Atlantic Fleet, with the fleet base at Brest in Brittany especially targeted.〔Gardiner, p. 97〕 Although the Brest fleet was strong, numbering 25 ships of the line with five more nearing completion, it had suffered a series of defeats that had left it demoralised. In June 1794 seven ships had been lost at the battle of the Glorious First of June when it sallied out to successfully protect a grain convoy, five more sank in winter storms during the disastrous ''Croisière du Grand Hiver'' operation early in 1795 and in June of that year three more were lost at the Battle of Groix. During the ''Expédition d'Irlande'' in December 1796 another two ships were lost, a ship was lost in the approaches to Brest itself at the Battle of the Raz de Sein in April 1798 and in October 1798 a belated attempt to influence the Irish Rebellion had been crushed at the Battle of Tory Island, with further losses.〔Gardiner, p. 115〕 British squadrons patrolled the approaches to Brest and the other harbours along the Bay of Biscay, supported by the main body of the Channel Fleet, consisting of 19 ships of the line under the command of the 72-year-old Admiral Lord Bridport.〔James, p. 254〕 In Southern Europe the French position was altogether more desperate. In the summer of 1798 the French Mediterranean Fleet had departed its base of Toulon escorting a large fleet of transports carrying an army under General Napoleon Bonaparte for the Invasion of Egypt.〔James, p. 150〕 The French had believed that their passage would be unopposed as the Royal Navy had abandoned the Mediterranean Sea in 1796 following the Treaty of San Ildefonso, under the secret terms of which the Kingdom of Spain had made peace with the French Republic and declared war on Great Britain. Retreating to the base at Lisbon, the British Mediterranean Fleet under Vice-Admiral Sir John Jervis had concentrated on blockading the main Spanish Fleet based at Cadiz.〔Gardiner, p. 13〕 On 14 February 1797 the Spanish had suffered a defeat at the Battle of Cape St Vincent, for which Jervis was made Earl of St Vincent, and the Spanish retreated to Cadiz, remaining in harbour for the next two years.〔Clowes, p. 320〕 To intercept the French expedition to Egypt, Lord Spencer at the Admiralty in London ordered Earl St. Vincent to dispatch a fleet of his own under Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson. Nelson tracked the French across the Mediterranean but was unable to discover the invasion fleet until after the troops were ashore.〔Mostert, p. 257〕 On 1 August 1798 Nelson attacked the French fleet anchored in Aboukir Bay near Alexandria. The ensuing Battle of the Nile was a crushing victory for Nelson: eleven of the 13 French ships of the line were captured or destroyed and Napoleon's army was trapped in Egypt.〔Adkins, p. 37〕 The destruction of the French fleet encouraged the allies to form a new coalition against the French and the War of the Second Coalition began soon afterwards.〔Rodger, p. 461〕 Royal Navy forces returned to the Mediterranean and blockades were imposed on the principal French bases, including Alexandria and Malta under the command of Nelson at Palermo with three ships on each station.〔Mostert, p. 344〕 The Spanish base at Port Mahon on Minorca was captured by a British expeditionary force in November 1798 and it was there that St. Vincent, suffering from a prolonged bout of ill-health, had retired, leaving command of the Cadiz blockade fleet to Vice-Admiral Lord Keith. Keith mustered 16 ships of the line and could potentially call on Nelson and the squadron under Rear-Admiral John Thomas Duckworth at Minorca should he require their assistance. The 19 ships of the Spanish fleet at Cadiz were the only remaining force in Southern Europe that could trouble British control of the Mediterranean.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Croisière de Bruix」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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